Newly discovered halos and outer features around southern planetary nebulae

TL;DR

This study uses the SuperCOSMOS H-alpha Survey to identify faint outer structures around southern planetary nebulae, enhancing understanding of their features and improving distance estimates for better statistical analysis.

Contribution

It presents a new survey-based approach to detect faint halos and features around planetary nebulae, expanding the known population and aiding in more accurate distance measurements.

Findings

Discovery of new halos and outer features around PNe

Identification of candidate common-envelope PNe microstructures

Potential for improved statistical analysis of PNe properties

Abstract

We have used the SuperCOSMOS H-alpha Survey to look for faint outer structures such as halos, ansae and jets around known planetary nebulae across 4000 square degrees of the southern Milky Way. Our search will contribute to a more accurate census of these features in the Galactic PN population. Candidate common-envelope PNe have also been identified on the basis of their microstructures. We also intend to determine more reliable distances for these PNe, which should allow a much better statistical basis for the post-AGB total mass budget. Our survey offers fresh scope to address this important issue.